The present invention relates generally to methods, controllers and control apparatuses for generating and displaying pointers or cursors on a display system in response to input from an input device. More particularly, the invention relates to methods, controllers and control apparatuses that respond to plural input sources and thereby generate plural pointers or cursors.
A variety of new wireless or corded controllers providing new and advanced interaction methods are being introduced for consumer electronics products. The new trend aims at breaking away from the traditional button-based approach and at enabling a new user experience through the use of multiple sensors such as touchpads, touch screens, gyroscopes, accelerometers, capacitive sensors and the like. In the television arena, this trend is a response in part for new application markets linked to Internet-based services, multimedia entertainment and gaming that are being deployed.
One common and universal interaction needed for applications relates to the ability to point and select elements displayed on a graphical user interface of a display system. This type of interaction relies on the use of a graphical pointer or cursor that the user can control via a touch screen, touchpad or gyroscopic input, for instance. Most pointer-based interaction systems use one single pointer and, in effect, mimic the interaction that takes place in the computer world with a mouse pointer.
Looking at its popular and widespread adoption, the single pointer approach has certainly proven its convenience and value over the last past decades. However, it is argued here that many tasks could greatly benefit from a dual pointer interaction to provide users with added convenience and increased speed of interaction. In dual mode interaction, users would typically use both hands (each hand controlling one pointer). Targeted tasks for improvement include in particular:                text entry using a virtual keyboard displayed on the interface; and        multiple object selection among a collection of objects displayed on the interface.        
Dual pointer interaction can be implemented simply by using two input sources (e.g. two touchpads) and by managing the pointers independently (in either absolute or relative input mode). Independent methods include basic pointer overlay on the whole interactive screen (i.e. two pointers on a common area) or basic split of the interaction area shown on a display in two static sub-areas (i.e. one area defined for each pointer).
However, independent dual pointer management approaches have drawbacks and limitations when it comes to convenience, usability and/or precision of designation. These limitations are linked to two fundamental interaction observations. First, it is confusing for users to control pointers that can cross each other. A pointer controlled with the right hand should preferably remain on the right hand-side of the left hand operated-pointer and vice-versa. Second, it may be frustrating for users to force them to use the left pointer for one set of actions and to use the right hand for another set of actions (e.g. a split keyboard) in the case where a pointer is confined to a specific area.
This invention effectively overcomes those limitations using a novel inter-dependent dual pointer management method.